Institutional reform

SRI LANKA: All policy and no principles lead to catastrophe

Comments on the views of Rajpal Abeynayake and Nath Amarakoon on judicial review Basil Fernando The SLBC programme inappropriately entitled “People’s Power” is continuing with its misinformation campaign against basic principles of constitutionalism. On the programme that aired on the 13th of December, there were amusing misinterpretations of the constitutional history of the United States, […]

SRI LANKA: The fight against reducing the judiciary to a government stooge

The letter written by the senior and well-respected lawyer SL Gunasekara provides a very thought-provoking approach to dealing with the present impasse created by the government’s wish to proceed with the impeachment against the Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake, which they are doing irrespective of the request made by the Supreme Court to delay proceedings on […]

SRI LANKA: The shameful ending of a prefab impeachment

Dear friends, We wish to share with you the following article from the Asian Tribune, written by Tisaranee Gunasekara. Asian Human Rights Commission Hong Kong ————- An article from the Asian Tribune, forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission Tisaranee Gunasekara “The first waves of a sea of fire….” Ivo Andrić (The Bridge over the […]

SRI LANKA: We salute the Chief Justice and her legal team for the historical decision to walk out of the PSC proceedings.

We call upon the people, in particular the judges and lawyers, to grasp the historic significance of this moment It is news now that the Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake and her legal team, led by Romesh De Silva PC, walked away from the Parliamentary Select Committee proceedings, expressing no confidence in the manner in which […]

SRI LANKA: Now there is no justice

When I talked to a Sri Lankan friend about the killings of prisoners which happened yesterday and tried to convince him that people should demand justice, his instance reply was, “ Dhang justice naah” (now there is no justice) . In the past, this expression meant that there were serious concerns about justice. However, now it […]

SRI LANKA: The banality of the impeachment

Under the present circumstances and under the 1978 constitution, when the president does not want the Chief Justice, the president just tells them to get out and go home. The way he does it is called impeachment proceedings. Once the president decides to file such proceedings – he has a two thirds majority in parliament […]

SRI LANKA: Disappearance of land titles among other frauds

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) wishes to bring to the attention of the Sri Lankan public that we have learned about the massive frauds relating to tampering with land titles and also other frauds by the misusing the criminal justice process by way of fabrication of charges. The incidents narrated hereunder would explain the […]

PAKISTAN: The proposed ‘Fair Trial Bill’ may create conditions for a police state without martial law

The ‘Fair Trial Bill’ which, according to the news report, the government plans to place before parliament will, if passed, virtually make the fair trial impossible in Pakistan. The provisions of the bill are designed for the conviction of persons without fair trial. The direct impact of the proposed law will be to tie the […]

INDIA: Peeling a dead fish

The villagers’ protest against the absence of reasonable settlement for the land and livelihood lost to the Omkareshwar and the Indira Sagar Dams in the Narmada Valley project has thus far fallen upon a blind and deaf government. The agitation, though has received wholehearted support from a section of the Indian civil society, has failed […]

INDIA: History repeats in Omkareshwar protest

(Hong Kong, September 05, 2012) “This is taking the Ghandhian method to the water. To be submerged in water continuously for so many days is more difficult, in fact, than fasting…” Mr. Basil Fernando, Director – Polices and Programmes said referring to the ongoing protest in Khandwa, Madhya Pradesh, India by the villagers who lost […]

INDIA: Rights are a mandate, not a concession

Statement | India | 04-09-2012

The ongoing protest by village communities acting against the increase of water level in the Omkareshwar Dam is unique in several aspects. The protest, which has completed 11 days today, is directed against the Madhya Pradesh state government that has failed to adequately rehabilitate those who have lost their land and livelihood to this ‘development’ […]

INDIA: The Independence Day speech they would never deliver!

Article | India | 15-08-2012

There is nothing amiss here. The nation is in celebratory mode and it is celebrating with aplomb. The national flag, the tricolour, is everywhere: being waved in the hands of children, tattooed on the cheeks of enthusiastic youth, flying high on the walls. And, it has, for a change, ensured a full meal to the […]

NEPAL: For the ordinary folk, limited progress in liberties, opportunities and income in recent years

Statement | Nepal | 08-08-2012

A group of human rights lawyers and activists gathered for a two-day seminar on the Rule of Law and Criminal Justice in Dhulikhel, Nepal. This seminar was organized by Advocacy Forum and the Asian Human Rights Commission. Reviewing liberties, opportunities and income, the participants discussed a large number of issues relating to the recent developments […]

SRI LANKA: Eran Wickramaratne, MP, calls for police reforms

(Hong Kong, August 3, 2012)  Mr. Eran Wickramaratne, a member of parliament called for elimination of widespread practice of torture in Sri Lanka as in many other countries of the region in an interview to a radio program. He hoped that all members of Sri Lankan parliament regardless of their political affiliations will come together […]

BURMA: AHRC welcomes release of Phyo Wai Aung; calls for redress

(Hong Kong, August 3, 2012) The Asian Human Rights Commission has welcomed the release from prison on an amnesty today of Phyo Wai Aung, a young man falsely accused, tortured and imprisoned over the April 2010 bombing, and has called for him and other freed victims of gross abuses of human rights in Burma to […]

SRI LANKA: Defending the nation’s internal security

Basil Fernando In a previous article, SRI LANKA: The Supremacy of the national security apparatus, we discussed the issue of the Ministry of Defence being the most important institution in Sri Lanka, after the institution of the Executive President. This implies that the ministry is more important than the parliament and the judiciary within the new […]

SRI LANKA: Honouring Baratha Lakshman Premachandra and denying him justice at the same time

In the public discussions recently, particularly on the occasion of erecting a statue for Baratha Lakshman Premachandra, there has been several references to the need for electoral reforms. Even the Leader of the House, Minister of Irrigation and Water Resources Management, Nimal Siripala de Silva, was talking about ending the politics of violence. However, ending […]

INDIA: Sexual perversion a manifestation of graver structural failures

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information concerning the illegal arrest, detention and custodial violence against three men in Murshidabad, West Bengal by police personnel of Salar Police Station. The victims are leaders of a local branch of the Indian National Congress party. While in the custody, the three victims were […]

INDIA: An Act to suppress democratic rights

Statement | India | 25-05-2012

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is informed that District Magistrate Barwani in Madhya Pradesh state has issued a “show cause” notice to human rights defender Ms. Madhuri Krishnaswami on 10 May 2012 asking her why actions should not be initiated against her under the Madhya Pradesh Rajya Suraksha Adhiniyam, 1990 (Madhya Pradesh State Security, […]

INDIA: Judgments cannot replace good governance

Statement | India | 24-05-2012

India will be evaluated at the United Nations’ Universal Periodic Review in Geneva, Switzerland today. The three countries (Troika) involved in the review are Kuwait, Mauritius and Mexico. That these countries have worse records of human rights in comparison to the country they would collectively review suggests how firmly, and perhaps blindly, such processes are […]